Good morning…
The same full moon shining through our trees is pouring light over Children’s Healthcare of Philadelphia right now. Nineteen year old Audrey DeShelter is at CHOP this week receiving treatment for her cancer. Our Fab Five friend group planned to share lunch with Audrey and her mom tomorrow before she heads to Notre Dame to begin her freshman year of college. Plans changed when we got Thursday’s night’s text: “2 new spots. Her chest ct shows her lung treatment is not working. They are checking to see if she can have some treatment next week. In Philly. I can’t tell you how heartbroken Audrey is.”
We’ve been on this long rollercoaster ride together since Audrey was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when she was five and a half years old. Then her father posted these words on Facebook yesterday, filling in more details and asking for our specific prayers.
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Unsettling News by Ben DeShetler
Last week, Audrey had an array of scans both for her lungs and for her cancer. While we discovered the proton radiation she had last month completely obliterated the spot in her adrenal gland, two new small spots were found in the lymph nodes of her neck. To make matters worse, Audrey’s lungs have not improved, limiting what treatments she can do as long as she is reliant on steroids. Audrey was visibly distraught at the hospital. It was so heartbreaking to watch. So much was riding on this week.
We really are in between a rock and a hard place. This news is coming one week prior to freshman orientation at Notre Dame. Dr. Mosse recommended doing a low dose MIBG treatment (chemical radiation) every 6 weeks rather than getting a high dose like last year. However, it will require that she takes at least two days off of school every 6 weeks for the treatment at CHOP (the only hospital that does this). Audrey still needs to be completely isolated like last year since she would be radioactive. This is so hard to hear, as her cancer won’t wait but Audrey is supposed to be at Notre Dame this Friday.
Audrey has worked so hard and surmounted so many obstacles that we couldn’t have her miss move-in weekend. Dr. Mosse and her team have rallied hard for Audrey to get her to college and she is absolutely determined to get Audrey to ND on Friday. Dr. Mosse said, “I’ll see what I can do, when will Audrey leave for school?” I replied, “We plan to start driving on Wednesday.” After waiting for an hour or so, Dr. Mosse returned and said, “The pharmaceutical company is willing to make the material for Audrey with short notice and we cleared a space so Audrey can use the MIBG room.” This is no easy task, as this treatment requires obtaining the radioactive treatments made on time and delivered precisely for Audrey from Canada. So many things could go wrong in transit alone.
Audrey will be admitted this Monday at CHOP, she will be injected with the radioactive material on Tuesday and remain in isolation. Hopefully her radioactive levels will be low enough so she can fly home on Wednesday. We are meeting her Atlanta pulmonologist on Monday at 7am to see if he can give us some different options to improve Audrey’s lungs faster. Something has got to change fast as the lung treatment clearly has not been working for the last 8 months.
So what does this all mean? It means we are obviously disappointed in the scan results, but we are not giving up the fight. This is not the first time she’s been down this road and we don’t want it to be her last. It means we have to maintain Audrey’s health and find a treatment that will heal her lungs faster so we have options for the cancer in the future. It means that Audrey will have to miss some days of school so that her treatments can be administered. It means that she will have to deal with the side effects of both chemo and radiation while taking a full course schedule (something she has done over and over). It means that Audrey will have to struggle with mobility at school until her lungs improve. It means that she is worried about her physical limitations and appearance after all of the treatments. It means that we will constantly be fretting about her while she is away from home, hoping that she is not struggling and suffering. It means that we hope she finds kind, supportive friends that will still welcome her and treat her warmly in spite of her condition. It means we will hold her in fervent prayer, knowing that all things are possible through Him.
So we’d like to ask you all to keep Audrey in your thoughts and prayers. This is supposed to be a joyous time but cancer has once again wrecked it. But Audrey remains so determined, so strong, and yet so fragile. We’re not sure how much longer she can do this. We pray that she can come through this yet again.
Romans 12:12
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer”.
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This guiding verse becomes our focus, as we hold Audrey in the healing light of our loving Lord. Day and night. Night and day.
…Sue…
